China state media admits that the number of covid cases in Beijing is rapidly rising | Forexlive

It seems like almost everyone in Beijing has covid. I’ve been writing that since the weekend and there are widespread reports of a huge wave hitting the city right now.

The strength of the wave makes me think it’s been present for awhile and that a big part of the rapid removal of restrictions nationally in China was that top officials weren’t willing to lockdown Beijing in the same way they had done for many other cities.

China has opted for a messy reopening that is going to overwhelm its healthcare system and severely crimp demand for the next few months. The upshot is that by the springtime, the country should be closer to normal. For the most part, the market will look through that but there are some risks around the intensity of the wave that will hit the country in the interim.